Transcript
We appreciate you coming out tonight, and we are returning to the study of the book of Acts by looking at panel four. Remember that we have divided the book of Acts into six panels. The first panel we have called, on the overhead, the church founded in Jerusalem. And in this particular panel we discover that the church begins as a dynamic movement of the Holy Spirit. It is rapidly growing in converts. But toward the end of the initial panel it is running into difficulties.
In the second panel we looked at the fact that the church is expanded from Jerusalem. And here we begin with the first brutal severe persecution of the Christian church which drives the Christians outward from Jerusalem. And now we find stories where preachers have moved away from Jerusalem, for example going to Samaria and down into Judea. We find the conversion of the Apostle Paul who will carry the gospel to the ends of the earth.
In the third panel we have the climax of the Petrine Apostleship. Peter is the main actor for the last time in the book of Acts in this particular panel. And the panel of course begins with Peter opening the door of faith to the Gentiles with one of the most important stories in the book of Acts, the story of the conversion of Cornelius, which the writer manages to tell three times: once in his own right, once through the lips of Cornelius, once through the lips of Peter.
We sometimes forget that in the early church many of the people who heard the Scriptures were unable to read them. And all of the writers of the New Testament are aware that their books are going to be read out in the public meetings of the church. And when someone wanted to be sure that they got certain stories or certain points across, then quite obviously they repeated this. And one of the things that a person who heard Acts for the first time read in church was nicely to remember was the conversion of Cornelius.
There is another conversion in the book of Acts which is also repeated three times. And whose conversion is that? Paul’s. So if the person who heard Acts read for the first time remembered nothing else, he was going to remember that God opened the door to the Gentiles in the household of Cornelius and that He saved a man named Paul whom He intended to be a witness to the Gentile world.
So we reached the end of the third panel with a judgment falling on Herod Agrippa, symbolic of the nation of Israel. And despite his failure to give glory to God the Word of God grows and multiplies. And with that particular summary statement panel three has ended.
Now tonight we come to panel four. And we have called panel four, on the overhead, the establishment of the Pauline Apostleship. I would like to suggest before we get into the details here that we can subdivide panel four into three units. One I would call authentication. One I would call characterization. And one I would call ratification.
The segment that I assigned authentication is 12:25 to 13:52. The section that I would call characterization is 14:1 to 23. And the section that we want to call ratification would be 14:24 to 15:31.
Now when our title says the establishment of the Pauline Apostleship we really intend to convey the idea that the establishment is from Luke’s point of view. Luke is going to give us material which from his perspective verifies the divine origins, the divine authentication of Paul’s Apostleship.
So with that in mind we are going to look at the details of panel four. There is a very real sense in which we can describe the Apostle Paul as the substitute witness or the witness who in terms of the book of Acts replaces the original twelve witnesses. Notice that we are pulling together here ideas that connect the first four panels of the book of Acts.
Once again we can think in terms of Acts 1:8 if we wish to. The action in panel one is entirely in the city of Jerusalem. The action in panels two and three is in Jerusalem but it is also extended to Judea, Samaria. And then we have the beginning of the movement outward to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Those of you who have been with us previously will remember that we have said the Book of Acts does not really trace the gospel until it reaches the ends of the earth. But obviously the impulse outward toward the ends of the earth begins especially with the ministry of the Apostle Paul.
Let me ask you to turn to Acts 13:47. The material here at this juncture in Acts 13 follows Paul’s speech in the synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia. And I am interested particularly in verses 46 and 47.
Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first,’ meaning the Jews, ‘but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us: “I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.”’
Now the English obscures a significant fact. In Greek, when I realize that most of you will not be able to read the Greek up here, but the Greek that I have written up here is the phrase that is here translated “unto the ends of the earth.” But it is identical with the phrase used in Acts 1:8, “to the uttermost part of the earth.” And you will also perhaps be interested to know that these are the only two places in the book of Acts where the phrase is used.
So there is a sense in which Acts 1:8 in some ways runs out in the fourth panel. We are now told that the mission of Paul is to carry the message to the Gentiles to the ends of the earth. But we are far more concerned with the character and nature of the Pauline mission than we are with tracing the events that lead us to the ends of the earth.
And as we have said before, Rome was not the ends of the earth. If we think only of the Roman world we would certainly have to extend our conception to Spain. If we thought beyond the Roman world it would be much, much further indeed. So the point I am making here is that it is definitely true that the mission of the Apostle Paul was an outward thrust in the direction of the uttermost parts of the earth.
And this thrust is authenticated from Old Testament Scripture which Paul appropriates to his own mission. But from here on our concern is primarily with the work of God through Paul.
Now you will notice that down at the bottom, because we were thinking in terms of foundational ideas in panel one, the only really important actor in panel one is Peter. And of course his first major act is a long speech on the day of Pentecost. We also see that Peter is active in panels two and three in Samaria, in Judea, and also in Caesarea.
But we have seen that starting in panel two we have to some extent the results of the apostolic ministry in the city of Jerusalem. Because now we get a new figure who is Stephen. And once again Stephen begins his career with a long speech. And following Stephen of course there is the evangelist Philip. And following that there is the conversion of Saul himself.
Now what I want to show you here is that very shortly after the opening of this particular panel in the book of Acts, what we have called panel four, there is a long speech by Paul. And when you analyze Paul’s long speech a very surprising observation emerges from that.
The first part of Paul’s speech resembles Stephen’s speech. Because Stephen’s speech, remember, was a review of the history of Israel with special stress on the guilt of the nation. And the first part of Paul’s speech is a review of the history of Israel as it led to the condemnation of the nation. But nevertheless they are similar in that respect to the speech of Stephen.
But the second and third parts of the sermon resemble Peter’s sermon. They describe the events that have occurred in Jerusalem and how Christ has been raised. Remarkably both Peter in Acts 2 and Paul in Acts 13 appeal to the Scripture in Psalm 16. Remember where you will not suffer your Holy One to see corruption. And that is applied by both Peter and Paul as a direct prophecy of the resurrection of Christ.
What do we have here in Paul’s initial sermon? he combines elements of Peter and Stephen. And implicitly, for those who notice it, one of the things that Luke is saying is that here is the man who essentially is the new Peter and the new Stephen. Here is the man who carries on the Petrine message and carries on the message of Stephen. And he is the new witness that God is going to particularly use as God thrusts His way out to the uttermost parts of the earth.
That is a very interesting observation.
Now let me say that it is particularly in this section of the book of Acts that interpreters of the book of Acts have noticed a remarkable number of parallels between Peter and Paul. Would you for example remember that following the long speech of Peter in Acts 2 what is the next major event in the early part of Acts after the speech in Acts 2? The miracle of the healing of the lame man in Acts 3.
Did you know that following this speech very shortly there is the healing of a lame man by the Apostle Paul? You will recall that when the lame man is healed in Acts 3 that a wondering and marveling crowd assembles. And Peter says, “Why are you looking at us as though we by our own goodness or by our own power have done this? This is something that has been done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
What happens when Paul heals the lame man? The crowd gathers and they decide that Paul and Barnabas are gods. That Barnabas is Zeus and Paul is Hermes. And they are about to offer sacrifice to them. And so Paul and Barnabas say, “No, no, no, no. We are just ordinary men like you are.”
Notice the similarities here. Remarkable. I have not exhausted them. And these initial similarities were noticed a long time ago, as I said I think last night, by an older commentator by the name of Rackham.
But what I want you to see here is that as the author begins to unfold the section that is devoted to the Apostle Paul he wants us to see in Paul some of the outstanding qualities and traits and characteristics of the previous man whom he has highlighted. Paul is not any less an apostle than Peter. Not any less a witness than Stephen. Paul is God’s man. We are launching out on an apostleship that will have world ramifications.
So I think it is very important to see this right up front.
Now I have over here that deals really with Acts 13:6 to 12 which I have called the typology of Cyprus. When I was teaching at the seminary whenever I began to speak of typology I usually drew a gasp of astonishment from a large number of our seminary students. Many of our seminary students thought that typology should be only touched with great restraint and that we should be very careful about finding typology where it was not explicitly labeled as typology in the New Testament.
I certainly do not agree with that. I was raised in circles where typology was used and recognized with great skill. And let us remember that the early church knew perfectly well that the Old Testament had a lot of typology in it. You only need to read the book of Hebrews to find that out.
And in one place in Hebrews the writer says he lists the things of the tabernacle. And he says, “We cannot stop to speak of these things in particular.” I know more than I am telling you. We can go into this in more detail.
It is inconceivable therefore that the writers of the New Testament were not perfectly well aware that God used typology in the Old Testament Scriptures. And if He did there is no reason why He cannot use typology in the New Testament Scriptures. And so from time to time I throw in a little typology.
Let me just hasten to add the existence of typology in a story does not in any way undercut the historicity of the story. So what happened here in Acts 13:6 to 12 is first of all historical. And that is the point I am making.
The story on the overhead, the historical facts are given to us here. And this is a significant passage because here is the place where the name Saul is dropped away and the name Paul replaces it. Saul of course being the Hebrew form and Paul the Greek name. So this is a very crux point in the book of Acts.
The man here who is the center of the story is a man who is now becoming an apostle to the Gentiles. And he will henceforth be known by his Gentile name. he receives opposition however in the process of preaching the gospel to the proconsul on Cyprus. he receives opposition from a Jew who, a Jew who has the very remarkable name of Bar-Jesus which means son of Jesus. But he also has another name, Elymas, which means magician.
The irony of this is powerful. Here is a Jewish man who combines a noble personal name with an illegitimate profession as far as the Jews are concerned, being a kind of person who dabbled in magic. Sergius Paulus is Sergius Paulus. And Paul and Paulus are exactly the same. And he is the first Gentile convert of the Apostle Paul according to the book of Acts.
I do not think historically he was the first, as we kind of mentioned a couple of nights ago. I think we have reason to believe that preceding this missionary journey there were at least two missionary journeys: one to Arabia and the other to Syria and Cilicia. But this is the missionary journey that the writer of the book of Acts has chosen to use to present to us the Gentile mission of the Apostle Paul.
And therefore the very first individual in the Gentile world who is converted under Paul’s teaching is a Gentile named Paul. Now Paul’s message is believed by the Gentile. It is resisted by the Jew. And as a result of the Jew’s resistance he is blinded for a period of time.
You can almost tell me, can you not, where I am going with this typology? The Pauline mission is in fact the mission of a man who once called himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews. But he becomes a messenger to the Gentiles. Sergius Paulus is a noble example of a Pauline Christian. And the Jewish man in the story represents the kind of Jewish opposition that he will receive everywhere he goes.
Now you will notice looking at the bottom of our figure here that Paul is at this juncture filled with the Holy Spirit. Right there on the spot he immediately prophesies because he pronounces the doom that is going to fall on Elymas for resisting the word of God. And immediately the prophecy is fulfilled. So the figure in this story is also a prophetic figure, a prophesying figure.
Now the divine program is underlying the mission of the Apostle Paul. And we have the prophecy that we just read in Acts 13:47. We have another very important prophecy at the end of the book. And I think we should look at it. So we look at this particular text, 28:25 to 27.
But back to the end of the book of Acts. Please remember that in the final scene of the book of Acts the Apostle Paul has reached Rome. Is he preaching to Gentiles? No. he is talking to Jewish people. And after he has presented his message the Jews are divided.
Now we pick up the reading in verse 25 of Acts 28.
So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: ‘The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying, “Go to this people and say, Hearing you will hear and shall not understand; and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”’
Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it.
Right at the beginning of the Pauline mission we have an episode which typologically recapitulates the truth that is thrown out through the book of Acts and that is climaxed in Acts 28. Paul has been sent to the Gentiles. And he is in the process of preaching to a Gentile. And there is a Jewish man who opposes it. The Gentile is converted and the Jewish man is blinded.
That is the story of Paul’s mission. he will preach to the Gentiles. he will be resisted by the Jews. And gradually it will become evident that God has visited blindness upon the Jews. Paul himself says in Romans, “Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: There shall come out of Zion a Deliverer who will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”
But Paul is preeminently the man who in his own doctrinal teaching informs us that the nation of Israel is blinded while the message is going to the Gentiles. This whole truth is presented to us in the story on Cyprus in typical and typological form.
Now let us look at the first subsection. The subsection that I called the authentication section: 12:25 to 13:52. One of the facts that we observe in this particular section is the prominence of the work and operation of the Holy Spirit.
Turn back if you will to the beginning of chapter 13. Paul and Barnabas are in Antioch. They are gathered together with the other prophets and teachers according to verse 1. And then what does verse 2 say?
As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’
So notice that Barnabas and Saul are called to this ministry by the Holy Spirit Himself.
In the next section which we have just looked at, 13:6 to 12, the incident on Cyprus, what do we find? The Holy Spirit is filling Paul. And the Holy Spirit of course is acting and casting the blindness upon Elymas and opening the heart and the eyes of Sergius Paulus to believe.
One of the things that we notice in the subsequent section which has to do with the speech in Antioch of Pisidia is that at crucial points there is an appeal to the Scriptures. Let us look first of all at 13:32 to 37.
Let us read at verse 32. Acts 13:32. This is Paul speaking to the Jews assembled in the synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia. There of course god-fearers there. And he says in verse 32,
And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, and has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’ Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’
Notice the heavy use of the Scriptures by the Apostle Paul to authenticate the message which he brings to Antioch.
And then notice also the warning that is found prophetically in verse 41. Let us read from verse 40. Bringing his message to a conclusion and anticipating what we have already seen in the Cyprus incident he says to this Jewish audience,
Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: ‘Behold, you despisers, marvel and perish! For I work a work in your days, a work which you will by no means believe, though one were to declare it to you.’
Be careful, he says, that you do not fall under this category already prophesied for Israel. Because God has said He is going to work a work in your days that you will not believe.
And then notice in the aftermath, as we have already seen it, that Paul and Barnabas themselves are under the guidance of Scripture, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who works through the Scriptures. And so reading again verse 47,
For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’
When we reach 13:48 to 52 which is the conclusion of this unit on authentication we find that God is active certainly through the Holy Spirit in conversion. Notice verse 48.
Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
This is a statement that we might say falls under the doctrine of election. But quite obviously this indicates that God works to bring to Himself those who are appointed for eternal life.
And then notice that as Paul and Barnabas are required to leave the scene that the church that they leave behind, the disciples that they leave behind, still have the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Verse 52:
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Now notice on the overhead the red line. We suggest that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is either explicit or implicit throughout the section. The Spirit has called the apostles. And when the apostles leave the scene of their ministry here the Spirit continues to work through the people that are left behind, through the disciples. And they experienced the fullness of the Spirit. And they experienced joy.
Now I have put a couple Greek words in here and they probably are meaningless to you. But let me just say that they come from two different Greek verbs for filling. This is the verb which in my judgment is used in Acts exclusively for instantaneous filling and which implies that the Spirit of God is taking over the individual and speaking through him in testimony and what amounts to inspired utterance.
But this is the word from which the word that was used to describe Stephen comes where he is said to be full of the Holy Spirit. Here I think we have a word that describes the condition, the general condition of Stephen. First of all he was a man whose life was permeated by the Holy Spirit.
What we are being told here I think at the end of Acts 13 is that the converts, the disciples, enjoy the experience of the Spirit as He fills and permeates their life. And one of the outcomes of this is spiritual joy.
So both beginning and end of this unit confront us with the ministry of the Spirit: first through the messengers and then through those who have received the message.
I think this would be a good point at which to have some questions. Are you tracking me thus far through this particular panel? Is there anything you would like to ask about?
All right. If not let us move on.
We have suggested that the next section is a characterization section. The point that the author is making in the authentication section is that the ministry of the Apostle Paul is a Spirit-directed ministry. It is very close. The apostle, the Spirit uses the apostle. The Spirit uses the Scriptures. The Spirit continues to operate in the converts.
The purpose of this unit however is to give us what I have called on the overhead the quintessential Paul. What is Paul like as a servant of God? And for that purpose three different incidents are used.
The first is to be found in 14:1 to 7 where he is preaching in the synagogue. And will you look over at verse 4 please. This is in Iconium.
Verse 4 says,
But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
One of the first things we need to know that the author wants us to know about the ministry of the Apostle Paul is that Paul was a divider of men. Paul never went into a synagogue and converted the whole synagogue. he always divided it. And we see that, do we not, in the very last incident that we referred to a few moments ago in Acts 28. he meets with his Jewish brethren in Rome. What happens there? Divided. Some were believers and some rejected the Pauline message.
This will be true of Paul everywhere he goes. And may I suggest it is usually true of the true servants of God that their message divides people. If you find somebody who is preaching something that everybody agrees to they are probably not preaching the message of Christ. The message of Christ divides. And Paul as a servant of Christ divided men.
Now in the next story we see something about the character of this man who in fact divides people through his ministry. he is humble when he is honored. We have already mentioned the fact that when he heals the man who was lame from his mother’s womb that the people gather around. They want to offer sacrifice to him and to Barnabas. And Paul disclaims any desire for sacrifice. And he emphasizes that he is simply an ordinary man.
Of the Greek that underlies this is, “We are men of like nature with you. We are no different than you. Do not sacrifice to us. Do not give us these honors. Recognize us as mere human beings.”
It would be nice if all preachers recognized themselves as mere human beings. And I think one of the greatest dangers that a preacher faces is to believe his own press clippings. And the people come up to say to you and say, “Hey, you are great.” You would like to think they are right. And unless you are very careful you can forget that you are just a man like everybody else. But you have feet of clay like everybody else.
Here is a humble servant of God. One of the greatest of all the servants of God without doubt, without question. But humble. he could have said to himself, “You know, nobody has ever offered sacrifice to me before. And although I do not believe in this stuff but why not enjoy the privilege?” And maybe he could even have rationalized as many leaders do, “If I let them do this then I will have an opportunity for the gospel.”
No. That was not Paul’s method.
But then we find another section in 14:19 to 23. It is very striking that the very city that wanted to offer sacrifice to him soon turns against him through people who have come from other cities. And the next thing we know they are dragging him out and stoning him and leaving him for dead.
Be careful. Popularity is here today and gone tomorrow. Anybody who lives for popularity is living for something totally transient. But marvelously, miraculously Paul gets up off of the ground. And then what happens? he and Barnabas do a return trip over the areas that they have evangelized. And they are very helpful to the disciples.
The Greek that we put down here says this: But as he was going he was strengthening the souls of the disciples and exhorting them that through many tribulations it is necessary for us to enter into the kingdom of God.
What is Paul saying? All of us are going to have troubles. I have just had some. And they are part and parcel of the Christian life that we are dedicated to God. We must through many difficulties enter into the kingdom of God.
You know I find this to be something that the average person in the pew does not think of until they are told it. “I am a Christian now. Oh why does not God take care of me and solve all my problems and free me from troubles? And if I get sick why has He not healed me?” And of course there are whole systems of theology based on if you have faith you can be prosperous and you can be healthy. You know the prosperity gospel.
But the real message of the Bible is that if we know the Lord Jesus Christ and are faithful to Him we are going to enter into the kingdom of heaven through many troubles, through many troubles.
Remember a great statement that Paul made in the opening chapter of Second Corinthians. he says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
So that is what Paul is doing here. That is what he did throughout his ministry. he knew what suffering was. And because he knew what suffering was he enjoyed the comfort of God. And he communicated how you should go through your troubles to his converts. And he strengthened, it says here, he strengthened the souls of the disciples.
Here is this great man of God. And he practically died for Christ. When he could have been honored in the city instead he is almost stoned to death. And yet God was with him and raised him up. he is going out and heading for more preaching where he may get more stoning. Remember one of Paul’s long accounts: shipwreck, beaten, hungry, thirsty, naked. I mean this is just the beginning of his troubles.
This is the real Paul. This is not the kind of Paul that a PR machine would present. This is what Paul really is. his message divides men. But when men try to honor him unduly he rejects that honor. And when he suffers he passes through it with the strength of God. And he is able to communicate comfort to others as a result of his suffering.
A great portrait without a word of editorial comment on the part of the writer. he has shown us the real Paul. This is the man that God has called to be the apostle to the Gentiles.
Now the final section of panel four is one that I called the ratification section. The ratification of the Pauline Apostleship from 14:24 to 15:31. And I presume that we all know that the central piece in this story is the Jerusalem Council.
But what I would like you to look at for a moment through this overhead is what I have called the prelude to the Jerusalem Council. The prelude. Let us look at it. This wife at this point in the story Paul has just been stoned at Derbe. And now he retraces the path of his missionary journeys going through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. Confirming the souls of the disciples. Strengthening them. Telling them to endure the troubles because they are necessary as we pass into the kingdom.
Then he passes through the city of Pamphylia. Comes down to Perga. Preaches the gospel in Perga. And then launching from there he goes back to Antioch.
Now I have got some Greek there. But basically what he does in Antioch first of all is declare, this is what it says, they declared, Paul and Barnabas declared, as many things that God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
So Paul returns from what is for Acts the first missionary journey full of what God has done. Relating along with Barnabas all of the many things that God has accomplished. And the great and bottom-line observation that God has opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
But what happens there is an explosion at Antioch. Look at Acts 15 verse 1.
And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’
In a very real sense these are the very first teachers of lordship theology. Grace is not enough. Faith is not enough. You absolutely have to keep the law of Moses. Because unless you keep the law of Moses you cannot be saved.
Grace had scored a remarkable triumph on the mission field. And Paul and Barnabas come back filled with gratitude to God for what He has done in opening the door of faith to the Gentiles. And here come people and they say, “You have not got the job done. You did not tell them they had to keep the law of Moses. You did not tell them to get circumcised. You misled them into thinking they were saved just by believing. There is more to it than that.”
That is what they are saying.
Notice verse 2.
Therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, Paul and Barnabas said, ‘Hold it right there. That is not true.’ And there was dissension here.
When they had no small dissension and dispute with them they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about the question.
I am sorry to say that the church in Antioch allowed itself to waver on the doctrine of grace. Here were the men who had taught them the fundamental truths, Barnabas and Saul. Now here were these men who had gone out from Antioch called by the Holy Spirit and had accomplished a marvelous work on the Gentile mission field. And just because people come down from Judea and say you have to keep the law to be saved the church wavers. And they said, “Well we really do not think we can decide which of you is right. Why not go up to Jerusalem and see what the apostles of the mother church think about this?”
Sad. It is sad. But many churches who have received the instruction of the gospel of God’s saving grace at some later time waver when they are exposed to contrary doctrine. I certainly hope that will never occur here at North Dallas Bible Fellowship. But be warned. It can occur. It can occur. And it occurred in the church that was taught by Barnabas and Saul.
One of the hardest things that the church has had to do through the centuries is to keep its grip on grace. You would have said nobody in Paul’s day would even have doubted this. If Paul insisted you were saved by grace through faith, would they? I mean would not Antioch just say to the men from Judea, “Get out of here. We know that you are saved by grace through faith.”
Hey look what happens. And it happened on the mission field. The Epistle to the Galatians: “I marvel that you are so soon removed from the gospel that I preached to you to another gospel which is not a gospel at all.”
In my judgment the most important truth that any church can hold on to is the truth of grace. And as the church holds on to that truth it is in no danger of losing anything else.
But the Jerusalem Council was the outcome of conflict up here at Antioch. And as a result Paul and Barnabas and others have to go down to that city. But notice according to the text as they travel along Paul and Barnabas are not saying to each other, “You know there is a possibility those guys are right. Maybe we should shut up about what God did on the mission field.” No.
As they traveled on according to 15:3 they were narrating the conversions of the Gentiles. Forget those guys from Judea. We know these guys on the mission field. And when they get to Jerusalem according to 15:4 what then? They proclaimed how many things God had done with them. Doubts here not for Barnabas, not for Saul. They know the message that they have preached. And they know that it is a message from God.
But when they reach Jerusalem there is renewed conflict. And I want you to look at it at verse 5.
But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.’
Now watch this carefully. The men who came down from Judea said, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses,” and that implies keeping the whole law, “you cannot be saved.” That is what the people who came down from Judea said.
That is not exactly what is said in Jerusalem. Notice that some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, we have Christians here folks, we have Christians, converted Pharisees. Whether the men who came down from Judea according to verse 1 were Christians or not we do not know. But these are Christians. And they do not repeat exactly the error that was spread in Antioch.
They do not say, “Unless we command them to keep the law of Moses they cannot be saved.” What they do say however is, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”
So here are in my judgment the first full-fledged Christian legalists. Saved by faith. But you have to impose the law on all the converts.
So the apostles and the elders come together to consider this question. This is one of the more famous stories in the book of Acts. And we find that in the midst of the council the Apostle Peter appears. This is what I have called earlier his cameo appearance, his final appearance.
But what is his role in this appearance? Well I suggest to you his role is to confirm the message of the Apostle Paul. Look at verse 7.
And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them, ‘Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.’
The history of the law, says Peter, is a history of failure. Our fathers could not bear it. And if we made this yoke on the neck of the disciples they will not be able to bear it either. And then notice his final word: “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”
The law has nothing to do with salvation. A victory for the message of the Apostle Paul. This is very important for Luke. Very important for Theophilus. Very important for the Gentile readers of this book. They must know that the great apostle to the Jews and the great apostle to the Gentiles are as one in the wonderful truth that we are saved by grace through faith alone.
And that is when they had a little break in the action and allowed Barnabas and Paul to tell about all the things that God had done in the mission field. And after this James stands up. One of the most maligned characters of the Bible because all sorts of legalistic ideas have been imputed to James which James would be shocked to know had been imputed to him.
And what James does is what he in fact does in his epistle: offers some very, very wise counsel. First of all he begins by confirming from the Scriptures that God is interested in saving Gentiles and keeping them as Gentiles. So he quotes the relevant passage in verses 16 and 17.
Notice verse 17:
So the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name.
There is no indication in this passage that the Gentiles will be anything but Gentiles. So this passage recognizes, James says, the conversion of the Gentiles, says the Lord who does all these things known to God from eternity or always works. What God is doing through Paul and Barnabas, says James, is what God has always planned to do. What He has in fact revealed in the Scriptures that He would do. And that is to save Gentiles who remain Gentiles.
Now then James with marvelous practicality suggests the following procedure. Notice his words in verse 19:
Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.
James is saying I think something like this: I fully admit that the Gentiles are not under the law. But there are Jews all over the world that we are trying to reach too. And every synagogue meeting their Scriptures are read. And there are certain practices which are indulged in by the Gentiles maybe a very grave offense in the eyes of the Jews. And we want to be sure that we do not put a stumbling block in their path.
And so he suggests that the Gentiles be encouraged to abstain from these basic things which would be highly offensive to the Jews. But he supports the decision of the council that the law is not to be imposed.
Notice the letter that they wrote is recorded in verses 23 and following. Notice verse 24:
Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’ to whom we gave no such commandment.
Notice they disavow them altogether. And their doctrine is disavowed altogether.
It seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, affirming Barnabas and Paul very strongly. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.
You are free from the law. We would like to encourage you however to abstain from these basic things. And this was the very wise, balanced, and prudent decision of the Jerusalem Council. Firmly supporting the Apostle Paul and man’s freedom from the law but asking us to be careful with our freedom. Which quite frankly the Apostle Paul also asked us to do in many passages of Scripture.
So he wants to talk to those who think it is perfectly all right to eat meat sacrificed to idols. he says, “Yeah I agree it is perfectly all right to eat it. And I know it is nothing. But if you eat that meat and you cause a fellow Christian to stumble you have sinned.”
So the spirit of the council is in fact the spirit of the Apostle Paul. Yes saved by grace alone. Yes free from the law. Enjoying true Christian freedom. But yes sensitive to the feelings of others.
One of the things that I have observed in the modern church is that where we get a grip on the freedom that we have from the law we tend to lose sensitivity. It is one thing for me to know that I can do something. It is another thing for me to have to do it to prove I am free. And in the process damage the conscience of somebody else whom I should be ministering to.
And we have to learn the balance that is found here in the Jerusalem Council. We have to learn to be sensitive. It is the law of love. The Gentiles could not proceed on the mission field free from the law without any regard to the Jews. All of the Jews. The Jerusalem Council, the Jews. The Gentiles should love the Jews. And they should act accordingly.
And needless to say the results of all of this are very wonderful indeed.
We have called the aftermath the conquest of grace. First of all there is the communication that we have just looked at. And then this message is carried back to Antioch. Imagine what joy must have been to rediscover their liberty. And look at verse 31 of Acts 15.
When they, that is the people at Antioch, had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.
Now at this point Paul wants to return also to the cities that he and Barnabas had evangelized. And there is a schism between them.